Riley’s POV

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    The fire in my stomach spread like a wildfire, scorching through my veins, radiating into every limb. It was a deep, visceral pain, gnawing at my organs, twisting inside me like knives forged in ice and me. Not even the strongest alchemical sedatives Theo Hale had once administered could dull this agony.

    I bit down hard on my lip, tasting copper, tasting the dark truth of what I had done. A cough tore through me, and a dark rivulet of blood sprayed onto the cold stone floor of the infirmary chamber. It hissed faintly, the smell of iron sharp in my nostrils. Yet, despite the searing torment, a strange smile tugged at the corner of my lips–a smile of bitter release.

    If I died here, it would all end. Carmen would be free of murder’s stain, her wolfborn life untainted, able. to walk proudly again among the Ashmoor Academy and Stormridge circles. Lucien… my prince of the Stormridge Pack… would be able to bury the memory of my suffering, to continue leading his pack without this shadow weighing him down. Mia, my surrogate mother, and Mrs. Beck, who had cared for me as though I were her own, would no longer fear for my survival.

    The thought, cruel as it was, gave me purpose. Even in death, I could offer value to those I loved.

    Tears slipped down my cheeks, stinging in the burning heat of the poison coursing through me. My eyes blurred, and when they opened again, I was no longer in the interrogation room but in the stark white confines of the Stormbrige infirmary.

    The room swarmed with concern, the scents of worry thick in the air. And there he was. Lucien, sitting in a wheelchair, gaunt and pale, his crimson eyes fixed on me as though burning through my very soul. Our gaze locked, and I tried, weakly, to smile. I lifted a trembling hand to touch his face, but my arm faltered halfway, drained of strength.

    He caught my hand, pressing it to his cheek, his voice hoarse with anguish. “Why… why would you be so foolish?”

    I swallowed, struggling to keep the pain from my throat. “Lucien… it’s me who dragged you into this. Please… when I’m gone, promise me… forget me quickly, alright?”

    The tears he had held back finally broke free, tumbling down his face in thick, unrelenting streams. His shoulders shuddered as theposed alpha fa?ade crackedpletely, revealing the raw, human despair beneath.

    “You promised… you promised you’d be mine,” he rasped, his voice quivering with the deep ache of betrayal and helplessness. “How… how could you go back on your word?”

    I brushed at the tears streaking his checks, my fingers numb, my lips trembling. Every touch sent a jolt of pain through me, but I couldn’t stop. “Don’t cry..” I whispered, the words barely audible, but soaked in all the warmth I could summon.

    Lucien roared, “Professor Maeryn! Go find Professor Macryn, she has to have a way to save her!”

    Caelum stood silently to the side, struck by the sight of his Alpha wracked with such pain. After a brief hesitation, he murmured, “I’ve already tried to contact Professor Macryn, but she isn’t in the East. Her assistant said she left temporarily, and they don’t know where she went. She’s currently out of range of them stones, but I’ve left a message. As soon as she returns, she’lle for Riley immediately,”

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    23%.

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    Then Carmen appeared, rushing through the crowd, her small frame trembling, eyes red and swollen. She fell to her knees beside the bed.

    “Riley… why?” Her voice cracked, each syble a knife in my chest.

    “I… I’ve taken lives,” I said, pressing my remaining strength into the words. “I surrendered myself to the Council. Those whomit crimes must face the consequences. My body… it’s failing. I cannot endure this pain any longer. I chose this path so that none of you would bear my burden.”

    Carmen’s gaze sharpened. She saw it immediately–my intention, as in and raw as the silver crest of the Elder Council.

    “No… this isn’t what I want. I don’t need this from you!” She copsed onto the floor, knees giving way, her arms clutching me as though she could physically anchor me to this world. Her wolf instincts, so in tune with mine, sensed the imminence of death and recoiled in terror.

    Her body shook violently, her wails guttural and raw. “Riley… don’t die… don’t leave me… I’d rather die myself than let you go!”

    I could feel the poison pulling at me, a tide of cold ice creeping through my chest, filling my lungs with burning shards. The wolfsbane would scar the tissue irreversibly, a death sentence in any other scenario. But Carmen’s fear, her desperate ws on my arms, urged me to speak softly, to anchor her to reason as much as I could.

    I leaned toward her ear, whispering, voice threadbare yet firm. “Carmen… this ends here. Live your life fully.. for me. Don’t let my death be meaningless. This… this is all I can do for you now.”

    Her body stiffened, disbelief and grief warring across her features. “Ends here?” How could it? Caden, Elira ckthorn… they were still alive. How could this possibly be the end?

    She nodded frantically, tears spilling over like storm–swollen rivers. “I promise… as long as you live, I’ll do everything you ask.”

    Her hands clutched mine as if holding me could anchor me to life itself. “Riley… you have to hold on. The healers will save you.”

    Each breath was agony, des scraping through my lungs, every inhale a fresh stab of fire. Blood mixed with bile rose in my throat, yet I swallowed it back, unwilling to give her further fear.

    “Carmen… don’t cry…” I murmured again, voice a ghost of its former strength. My wolf stirred inside me, coiling, alert, desperate to shield her from this moment even as it raged against the helplessness of my failing body.

    She tried to wipe her tears, but they came faster than she could stem, flowing like the mountain streams after spring thaw. Even through the haze of pain, I caught the scent of her fear, of her determination to protect me, and it filled me with warmth and sorrow all at once.

    I could feel life slipping away, but in this small, stark chamber, I sensed a fragile peace. My pack, my bonds, my choices–they mattered, even here at the edge of mortality. I had walked through darkness ande out biting, wing, surviving. And even as my body betrayed me, my wolt–the untamed essence of my being–remained unbroken, snarling softly in the shadows, a sentinel over those I loved.

    Because I am Riley. My blood is wolfborn. My will is untamed. And even as my body falters, my legacy will roar louder than any mortal death.

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